STAMPlorations spring release - woodland friends

Welcome to day 5 and the last day of the STAMPlorations Spring Release. The four-legged friends are the star of the release and today it's all about our friends in the forest. Meet Woodland Friends.

I may not be a cat fan, but I love me some woodland critters. And I love that Shery illustrated these with some solid areas, cuz I'm a fan of black and white. In other words, no coloring necessary. You may have seen this card of mine with lotsa coloring (for me at least). Well, I went with a similar design, but kept the critters B/W. See how those touches of black give them just enough interest? I love it!

I actually masked and stamped and fussy cut the bottom section from white CS and added some watercolor shadowing under the critters before glueing it onto my Distress Inked BG (Stormy Sky, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot). Heat embossed the sentiment almost camouflaged into that wintry sky.

And then I decided to showcase the racoon and his (or in this case, her) wonderful tail.

Paired her up with a bold sentiment Be You, colored the tail with Copics (cuz she's being the "you" she wants to be, get it?) and gave it a shot of Wink of Stella for sparkle. A touch of washi gave this super CAS card a little something extra.

And then, cuz a gelli print scrap fell into my hands during my craft room organizing...

From the moment I saw the deer's stance and that sentiment, I knew I wanted to pair them up. I thought that little forest scene (Poetry of the Earth) on the gelli print strip was wonder-worthy. So I added it to the card. Used Memento brown ink to stamp the sentiment and the ground using Mixed Media Grunge. Stamped and watercolored the deer with DI Gathered Twigs.

I think this set is going to be a lot of fun ;) It's somewhere between cutesy and artsy which I predict will make it a joy to reach for for both styles of projects.

Shery's offering generous prizes during this release. Leave comments by April 2 on all the release posts this week on the STAMP blog and the DT blogs to be in the running for a $25 GC or all five new stamp sets from this release! Check out what my teamies created over at the STAMPlorations blog.

I'm joining the fun at:
Simon Says Stamp - Work it Wednesday - Inking Technique
Simon Says Stamp - National Craft Month
Kreativetanten - Tiere

STAMPlorations spring release - purrfectly pawsome

Welcome to day 4 of the STAMPlorations Spring Release. The four-legged friends are the star of the release and today it's all about the cats. May I introduce Purrfectly Pawsome.

I have a confession to make. I'm not a cat person. I grew up with dogs.  One of my cat stories (besides the time my eyes totally swelled up after I'd been petting a friend's cat) goes back to my babysitting days. I walked into a dark kitchen, reaching for the light switch as I came through the doorway and as the light went on, down onto the counter jumped the family cat who had been perched atop the kitchen cupboards. Scared the crap outta me.

No dog has ever done that to me. Get my point?

Perhaps that cat-on-a-hot-kitchen-cupboard inspired my card design.

Basically a one-layer card. Masked and inked with Distress Oxide Worn Lipstick. Added more ink through the Zen Hearts stencil. Stamped the cats and gave them touches of orange with Polychromos. Added the sentiment on a wonky scrap and added two sequins. Cuz pink.

Makes for a cute card, eh? But I'm still not a cat person :)

Shery's offering generous prizes during this release. Leave comments on all the release posts this week on the STAMP blog and the DT blogs to be in the running for a $25 GC or all five new stamp sets from this release! Check out what my teamies created over at the STAMPlorations blog.

I'm joining the fun at:
Simon Says Stamp - Work it Wednesday - Inking Technique
Simon Says Stamp - National Craft Month
The Artistic Stamper - Stencils and Masks
Cards in Envy - No Patterned Paper
Penny Black and More - Feature a Creature
Kreativetanten - Tiere

STAMPlorations spring release - hashtag walkies

Welcome to day 3 of the STAMPlorations Spring Release. The four-legged friends are the star of the release and today it's gone to the dogs. Meet Hashtag Walkies.

The image in this set is typical Shirley as far as the artwork goes. And the humor... it's Shirley too. See that last hashtag? I saw it and couldn't forget it.

If you were around in the 80s, those words might remind you of these guys. Are you ready to "crack that whip"? Well, let's "whip it good" shall we?

image source

Silver gray and red. Had to do it. Considered adding Glossy Accents to the reds, but I am using a new-to-me cardstock (Papyrus Color Copy) and wasn't ready to risk ruining my one-layer card with Glossy Accents gone awry since I'm not sure how the paper would react.

Used Polychromos to color. And opted for a lightly inked cloud from Clouds stencil and a die cut sentiment from 5 Love Words.

Shery's offering generous prizes during this release. Leave comments on all the release posts this week on the STAMP blog and the DT blogs to be in the running for a $25 GC or all five new stamp sets from this release! Check out what my teamies created over at the STAMPlorations blog.

STAMPlorations spring release - baa baa

Welcome to day 2 of the STAMPlorations Spring Release. The four-legged friends are the star of the release and today it's all about those wooly creatures who call the embankments at the North Sea home. Meet Baa Baa.

And when you're strolling down on the path and they're up on the top of the embankment, this is pretty much what it looks like!

More fun with ink blending on my super smooth new-to-me cardstock (Papyrus Color Copy). Used Twisted Citron, Shabby Shutters and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks. And water splatters. Which were supposed to be like little daisies in the grass (Gänseblumen) but oops! Too big! More like piles of p**p ;)

Don't you love the punny sentiments?

Shery's offering generous prizes during this release. Leave comments by April 2 on all the release posts this week on the STAMP blog and the DT blogs to be in the running for a $25 GC or all five new stamp sets from this release! Check out what my teamies created over at the STAMPlorations blog.

I'm joining the fun at:
Simon Says Stamp - Work it Wednesday - Inking Technique
Simon Says Stamp - National Craft Month
Cards in Envy - No Patterned Paper
That's Crafty - Spring into Action
Penny Black and More - Feature a Creature
Kreativetanten - Tiere
Time Out - 4th Birthday

STAMPlorations spring release - live love ride

Hi friends! I'm back from a wonderful week in the sun and snow in northern Italy and want to welcome you to day 1 of the STAMPlorations Spring Release. The four-legged friends are the star of the release and today it's all about those big, beautiful beasts. Meet Live Love Ride.

I immediately fell in love with that artistic, flowing beauty and its beauty reminded me in some way of a unicorn. So when this rainbow watercolored scrap fell into my hand while I was cleaning/organizing my craft room, I decided to pair the two for a dreamy look. Did some stamping in black and heat embossing in white.

And then on a completely different note...

How's that for polar opposites? But I had to color those blooms on the horse's head. So I thought... look for some rarely-ever-used-but-hoard-oh-so-much-of-it PP with blooms. When I saw this old Basic Grey design I decided that horse needed pink blooms and green leaves. I heat embossed the image and then used watercolor and colored pencil to color it too.

Opted for a wonky angle on the watercolored image so went with a wonky sentiment design too. Half-stamped and half heat embossed onto a pink scrap.

Shery's offering generous prizes during this release. Leave comments by April 2 on all the release posts this week on the STAMP blog and the DT blogs to be in the running for a $25 GC or all five new stamp sets from this release! Check out what my teamies created over at the STAMPlorations blog.

I'm joining the fun at:
AAA Cards - Use only One Third
Addicted to Stamps and More - CAS
Penny Black and More - Feature a Creature
Kreativtanten Challenge - Tiere
That's Crafty - Spring into Action

alcohol inked and bloomtangled again

Did you see my post yesterday where I was inspired by this amazing card by Janette K and it occurred to me that I could do something similar using a cover plate die? AND one of the alcohol ink on Yupo backgrounds I'd just created (maybe you saw these on IG). I'm so proud of myself. I used a second BG right away! 

STAMPlorations Bloomtangled #1 die

gifted die cut

alcohol ink Sailboat Blue and ?

gilding flakes

I wanted to use the Yupo BG that had warped from too much heat gun. So with the cool colors, I chose to use a white die cut. I had the bottom portion and the sentiment done but was stumped as to what to do with the white space up top. Sprinkled some sequins but it needed something meatier. Enter another fussy cut portion of the die cut and another bit of the inked BG! Glued everything together with Multi Matte medium.

I would like to take this to:
Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes March
The Flower Challenge - #18 Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies March

alcohol inked and bloomtangled

I think I've mentioned before that it's rare that I see a card in blogland and then run right down to my craft room to make something! It happened recently though.

Saw this amazing card by Janette K as part of the Spellbinders blog hop. It occurred to me that I could do something similar using a cover plate die. AND one of the alcohol ink on Yupo backgrounds I'd just created (maybe you saw these on IG). I'm so proud of myself. I used a BG right away! That doesn't happen often either when I get into one of those create-a-zillion-BGs moods.

STAMPlorations Bloomtangled #1 die

Technique Tuesday stamp

digital PP

alcohol ink Watermelon, Red Pepper, Sunshine Yellow

white embossing powder

circle punch

I was so impressed with Janette's use of the bold red colors I just trimmed the full die cut down to have only the bloom and a couple leaves. I traced it onto my Yupo and then used scissors to cut that panel. Glued them together with Multi Matte medium.

I loved the use of B/W in the form of the sentiments randomly stamped on the original card, but decided to use black for my die cut and bring in the B/W with the PP. Love that sentiment stamp.

Come back tomorrow for another card along these lines. Used that warped Yupo BG I created in cool tones...

I would like to take this to:
Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes March

Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies March

STAMPlorations inspiration #168

It's time for a Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team where the team members feature stamps from one of our talented stamp designers.

We're showcasing Dee's Artsy Impressions stamps. If you haven't been to the store lately, all non-retiring products in the store are 10% off automatically from now through April (with an extra 20% off when you use my discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA).

STAMPlorations Floral Bliss stamp
STAMPlorations Best Mom Ever stamp
STAMPlorations Frames and Flowers stamp

STAMPlorations Nesting Rectangles die

Copic Markers
Polychromo colored pencils

Once again I've created my card using up some previously Copic-colored blooms. Just had to pick an image to superimpose my fussy cut blooms onto!

If you're looking for more inspiration ... I had more fun with the flower spray on this card. 

You could win yourself a $10 GC to the store by leaving a comment on the February inspiration posts. Check out today's post here. So happy you stopped by :)

I'm joining the fun at:
House of Cards - March

Simon Says Stamp - Happy National Craft Month!
The Flower Challenge - Anything Goes

guest designing at Paper Girls

Howdy! I'm happy to be joining the ladies at Paper Girls Challenge today where for the next two weeks the theme is "Embossing". I went with a couple variations on dry embossing.

 Craft Concepts Woodgrain folder

Lifestyle Crafts Woven folder

Simply Graphic rectangle die

STAMPlorations 5 Love Words die

Hero Arts Thinking of You stamp

pink acrylic paint

sequins

Must admit these items were all discovered in my stash as I was organizing my craft room. Saw those soft, spring-y colors and pulled them out to finally use. A bit ago I had had a go at dry embossing in conjunction with acrylic paint. The BG was dry embossed and then I sponged paint across the raised areas and around the edges. The smaller panel I had painted and splattered with gold spray ink before dry embossing. The stamped image was colored with markers and spritzed before stamping.

Just did some die cutting and arranging and the result was this birthday card!

How about doing some embossing and joining the challenge?!? I'm joining the fun at:
The Flower Challenge - Anything Goes

Joy Clair - March Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies March

Cuttlebug Mania - Springtime

distress oxides and colored pencils for spring

Using up more leftovers... this panel that I had smooshed into spritzed Distress Oxides presented itself as the perfect backdrop for a new-to-me Krumspring stamp. I thought blue for sky and pink for magnolias would work nicely. Although the flower ended up being a fantasy flower. I added some colored pencil in pink and blue to various areas to (try) to add some shading.

Krumspring Bloom stamp

Klartext sentiment stamp

Distress oxides - Worn Lipstick, Broken China

colored pencils

I thought the serenity of the scene lent itself well to a sympathy card. I adhered the panel to a cardbase and called it done.

I'm playing at:
The Flower Challenge - #18 Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers - Watercolor

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Easter Spring Inspiration

Joy Clair - March Anything Goes

copic colored rainbow feathers

So after these feathers I'd colored during the 30 day challenge had fallen off my desk for the fifteenth time, I decided to put 'em on a card.

Took an illustrated cardbase (from a pack I'd bought to support a charity) and adhered them cascading down the front. I chose this base cuz of the "nature" scene including two little ducks/swans in the water. See 'em? Added a die cut negative (from my newly organized stash of leftovers) and called it good.

STAMPlorations Feathery stamp

STAMPlorations Feathery die

Papertrey Thank You die

Copics

No more falling off my desk ;) I'm taking this card over to:

Addicted to Stamps - Thank You

Craft Stamper - Take it Make it March

Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies March

spotlight on large sentiment stamps

I'm over at the STAMPlorations blog with a spotlight post in which I've shown three different ways to use large sentiment stamps. Here's one of the ways.  Check out the others in this post.

I'm heading over to:
Time Out - Bold (before the door closes)

AAA Card Challenge - Ombre

STAMPlorations inspiration #167

It's time for another Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team where the team members feature stamps from one of our talented stamp designers.

Today we're using Becca' Big Grins stamps. All non-retiring products in the store are 10% off automatically from now through April (with an extra 20% off when you use my discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA).

Wanting to use more of the Copic-colored blooms I discovered in my craft room cleanup...

STAMPlorations Floral Bliss stamp

STAMPlorations Wonderful Life stamp

Copic markers

... I fussy cut the bloom and added it to a flowing design. Thought it looked like the bloom was rising toward the sun. Kept to warm colors for my rainbow :)

You could win yourself a $10 GC to the store by leaving a comment on the March inspiration posts. Check out today's post here. So happy you stopped by :)

I'm stopping by at:
Time Out - Happy 4th Birthday! Here's the quote

Marker Pop - Unicorns and Rainbows

what a difference a die makes

I'm back with some cards I created with another panel of my distress oxide smooshing + glazing crafty play. See this post for more deets.

On this smoosh I used only pink and yellow ink. And glossy paper. I liked the result without the blue so put it aside. More glossy. Eh. To use as more backgrounds. Eh. Then I remembered these dies I had not used yet. Voila! I actually love the touch the glossy adds on these die cuts! They're just so darn cute.

 Sizzix Animal Portraits die

Papertrey Pretty Petals stamp

Sweet Stamp Shop Greetings freebie stamp

American Crafts Mayberry Flower Patch stamp

Distress Oxides - Worn Lipstick, Fossilized Amber

glossy photo paper

Have you tried DOs on glossy paper (with or without glaze)? What'd you think?

I'm joining in at:

Die Cut Divas - Monochrome

Daring Cardmakers - Getting to Know You (I love super CAS cards with a pop of color. And techniques too. Got both going on today.)
Dies R Us - Use Pastels

Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies March